Ask a roomful of art historians and art
critics "who is the best artist ever?", and you'll get dozens
of different answers. Why? Because there is no single standard by which
to measure who is the greatest painter or sculptor: fine art is too subjective.
Furthermore, the reputation of an artist can vary according to the fashion
of the moment: the intense German Renaissance painter Matthias Grunefeld,
for instance, suddenly became fashionable in the 1900s because of his
"rediscovery" by German expressionists. Occasionally, an art
critic can singlehandedly influence the standing of an artist: John Ruskin's
negative opinion on Annibale Carracci, for instance, had a huge impact
on the reputation of the Bolognese School. So trying to decide who is
the best artist of all time, is close to impossible! But read on...

Self-Portrait (1658) Rembrandt
Greatest portraitist ever?

MOST FAMOUS ARTISTS
For a list of the greatest exponents
of painting and sculpture, see:Old Masters (1300-1830)
Great European painters.Famous painters (1830-present)
Greatest painters of modern era.

BEST ARTISTS: ENGLAND
For a list of the most important
English painters, during the
eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, (1700-1900) see:Best English Painters.

Most Expensive Art
Not Necessarily the Best

Auction prices at Sothebys or Christie's
provide some indication of the most valuable artworks or styles of art,
but most of the finest paintings by the world's best artists hang in museums
or public galleries, and are not for sale at any price. See also our articles:
Art Evaluation: How to Appreciate Art
and How to Appreciate Paintings.

The Mona
Lisa, for instance, the magnificent portrait by the High Renaissance
genius Leonardo Da Vinci, is part of the permanent collection of the Louvre
museum in Paris. Reportedly valued at over $1 billion, it will never come
to auction.

The same applies to masterpieces by the
greatest Old Masters, such as Jan Van Eyck, Titian, Peter Paul Rubens,
Velazquez, El Greco, Rembrandt, Jan Vermeer, Goya and others, as well
as great artworks by the best 19th century painters such as JMW Turner,
Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Renoir, and Van Gogh. Most of the best paintings
by outstanding modern artists like Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Edward
Hopper, Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollock, and Francis Bacon are likewise
out of circulation.

Masterpieces of fine art not in state art
museums are often found in situ, decorating public buildings. The most
famous such examples are the "Genesis" and "Last Judgement"
frescos by the Florentine genius Michelangelo, that grace the ceilings
and walls of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Other examples are the amazing
Camera degli
Sposi frescos by Andrea Mantegna, in the Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, Italy,
and the glorious Wurzburg
Residence frescoes painted by Tiepolo
(in collaboration with the architect Balthasar
Neumann) in the palace of the Prince Bishop Karl Philip von Greiffenklau.

In short, art market prices in international
salesrooms only relate to "available" works, so the most expensive
painting or sculpture isn't necesssarily the best.

WORLD'S GREATEST
ART WORKS
For a list of masterpieces
of painting & sculpture,
by contemporary artists, see:Greatest Paintings Ever
Oils, watercolours, acrylics,
by the best painters.Greatest Sculptures Ever
Top 3-D art in marble, stone,
bronze, wood, steel and
other media.

EVOLUTION OF FINE
ART
For details about the development
of Western painting and sculpture
see: History of Art Timeline.

WORLD'S BEST SCULPTORS
For a list of the top 100 3-D artists
(500 BCE - now), please see:Greatest Sculptors.

BEST ART IN IRELAND
For a list of the greatest
painters and sculptors from
Ireland, see:Best Irish Artists
Top living painters/sculptors
across all the genres.

In theory, one can draw up a list of criteria
in order to try and arrive at a list of (say) The Top 10 Painters or The
Top 10 Sculptors, or even The Greatest Painter of All Time. For instance,
one might use the following factors as a basic benchmark.

Durability or Longevity
The reputation of the painter/sculptor must have endured long enough to
demonstrate his lasting appeal as a master artist. Unfortunately, although
probably the most effective method, this eliminates most modern and contemporary
artists!

OUT OF PRINT ART
BOOKS
Looking for a book on great artists?
See: Rare Art Books.

Impact of the Artist's Work on His Contemporaries
On the face of it, one should be able to gauge the value of a painter/sculptor
from the views of his contemporary-artists. Unfortunately, many of the
world's greatest artists died unappreciated, either by their peers or
collectors. Jan Vermeer lay unknown for 200 years before being "discovered"
in the 19th century: Modigliani sold his canvases for food; while Van
Gogh painted some 800 paintings in his last 8 years without achieving
a single sale. In the light of all this, judging an artist by the views
of his contemporaries seems rather ineffective.

Current Public Opinion
Doubtless the most democratic way of establishing who are the best artists
of all time, although - given certain nationalist tendencies among (eg)
the population of Europe and America - not necessarily the most accurate.
The Spaniards will prefer Velazquez to Rubens, the French Monet to Turner
or Constable, while the Germans will probably vote for Albrecht Durer
or Hans Holbein, and the Norwegians for Edvard Munch. Across the Atlantic,
I daresay the likes of Edward Hopper, Mark Rothko or Andy
Warhol would attract a popular following. You see my point.

Artistic Technique
The painterly or sculptural methods of a candidate must be evident. Easy
to say, but difficult to agree upon. Also, neither the graduates of the
best art schools, nor the greatest masters
of oil painting techniques are guaranteed to become the best "artists".
Great art requires more than just technical mastery. Also, how does one
compare representational art techniques with those of abstracion? Finally,
this standard eliminates most if not all contemporary art forms that employ
conceptual or commercial art techniques.

Recommended
Lists of Great Painters and Sculptors: Too Subjective!

There are numerous "authoritative"
art books, or online compilations of history's finest artists by top critics.
Trouble is, most of them are based on highly subjective criteria disguised
as "objective fact", so they often make readers feel that they
don't appreciate "true art". Use these lists as a general guide
of expert opinion, but don't feel pressurized into accepting it as "fact"
- it's only opinion. (See also: Famous
Paintings Analyzed.)

What Art Museums
Say

Another factor to take into account when
drawing up a list of the best artists of all time, is the opinion of the
world's best art museums, like the Uffizi
(Florence), the Hermitage (St Petersburg), the Guggenheim, Metropolitan
Museum of Art and MoMA (all in New York), the Prado (Madrid), the Pinakothek
(Munich) and the Tate Museum (London). Most have online reviews of the
top works in their permanent collections, along with articles and commentary
on paintings and sculpture appearing in their temporary exhibitions. This
data, mostly written by expert curators and researchers, is a useful source
of information on the world's top creative practitioners. (See also: Art
Museums in America and Art Museums
in Europe.)

Who Are the
Best Artists of All Time? It's a Personal Decision!

At the end of the day, determining who
are the greatest ever painters and sculptors is a highly subjective, personal
decision. Trying to persuade an ardent fan of Impressionism or other forms
of plein-air landscape that the Neo-Plasticist Piet Mondrian is one of
history's greatest painters, is as futile as trying to convince a lover
of avant-garde installation art that Raphael or Titian merit a place in
the Top 10 best ever artists. Or take Damien Hirst, for example. You either
love him or hate him!

The truth is, each of us has our own aesthetic
or stylistic preferences, be they Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, Neoclassicism,
Realism, Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism or Pop-Art. One person loves
abstract art, the next is wild about Dada or Conceptualism. There's no
"universal" movement or style of art
that commands instant admiration: no single interpretation of "beauty".
All one can say, is that to arrive at a reasonable conclusion about who
are the best artists, one must be familiar with a reasonable number of
the world's great works of art. After that, it's up to the individual.

The Effect of
Different Cultures on Art Appreciation

I suspect that most Western art critics
know the names of very few top painters or sculptors from China, let alone
Japan. Even if they do, I doubt they accord them the same attention and
respect as they do Western artists. After all, Western art - from Classical
Antiquity, through the Renaissance and into the Modern era - is still
seen as the core repository of great art. Likewise, it's probable that
museum curators and art critics in (say) Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong and
Singapore, have an equally strong preference for (and better understanding
of) oriental painting and sculpture. In other words, it's fair to say
that our opinion of who constitutes the greatest ever artists is strongly
influenced by the culture we grow up in - another factor to bear in mind.

My Personal List of the Top 10 Artists

Bearing in mind the above, here is my personal
selection of the Top 10 best artists in the History of Western Art. The
criteria I have used to separate and rank these exceptional painters and
sculptors are as follows: (1) Their reputation has endured for many decades;
(2) They exemplify outstanding representational art - my idea of aesthetic
beauty; (3) Their artworks have significantly influenced both their contemporaries
and later generations of creative practitioners.

The greatest and most influential figure
in Counter-Reformation Baroque art in Northern Europe, Rubens painted
almost every type of genre and subject (notably history paintings and
portraits). Also, he designed tapestries, produced book illustrations
and festival decorations, as well as cartoons and sketches for sculptures,
metalwork and architecture. He taught Anthony Van Dyck and influenced
a host of other Flemish
painters, and French artists like Delacroix and Renoir. Described
as "the prince of painters and the painter of princes."

The most famous artist of the Early Netherlandish
School of Flemish painting,
he collaborated with his brother Hubert Van Eyck on the Ghent Altarpiece.
Noted especially for his pioneering mastery of oil painting, his introduction
of a new realism in religious works and portraiture, and his use of luminous
glowing colours. Along with Roger Van der Weyden, Van Eyck was the supreme
model of painterly technique during the early Northern Renaissance.

A shy, workaholic, Rodin was the greatest
and most influential sculptor of the modern era, a worthy successor to
the traditions of Donatello, Michelangelo, Giambologna and Bernini. A
master in the use of clay, plaster, stone and bronze, some of his finest
work evolved over decades. Constantin Brancusi described him as "indisputably
the starting point of modern sculpture."

The leader and devoted adherent of the
French Impressionism plein-air painting movement, and the acknowledged
initiator of "Modern Art", Monet had a lifelong obsession with
the depiction of light. His "Haystacks" and "Water Lily"
series of canvases (the latter completed in his garden at Giverny) took
years to complete. A close colleague of the Impressionist
painters Pissarro and Renoir, his later works (not unlike those of
Turner, whom he admired) spilled into Expressionism. Followers included
Alfred Sisley, as well as Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, James Abbott McNeill
Whistler, Georges Seurat and Edouard Vuillard.

The greatest European sculptor of the 15th
century and arguably the best artist of his era, Donatello was part of
the remarkable group of artists (Alberti,
Brunelleschi, Masaccio)
who drove the early Renaissance in Florence. A prolific worker, he was
a master of stone, wood, terracotta and stucco as well as his preferred
medium of bronze. Had a huge influence on his contemporaries, due to his
invention of rilevo schiacciato, his sensitive handling of classical motifs
and the emotional content of his sculptures.

Arguably the greatest landscape painter
in the history of art, the precocious Joseph William Mallord Turner exhibited
at the London Royal Academy at only 15 years of age. Overshadowed initially
by Thomas Girtin, Turner's
remarkably innovative technical and stylistic working methods in both
oils and watercolours gave his paintings a revolutionary impact, in composition,
tone and form. Had a lifelong interest in the portrayal of light, and
endless respect for the Old Masters. Revered by his contemporaries, including
John Constable.

Painting Masterpieces by JMW Turner

- Burning of the House of Lords and Commons
(1835) oil, Philadelphia Museum
- The Fighting Temeraire (1839) oil on canvas, National Gallery, London
- Snow Storm: Steamboat off a Harbour's Mouth (1842) oil, Tate Gallery

Florentine artist, draughtsman, scientist,
theorist - the "Universal Renaissance Man" - Leonardo completed
a mere handful of works but remained a pivotal figure in the High Renaissance
era. His oil painting technique was enormously innovative and influential,
notably his supreme skill in sfumato
(whereby he mellowed the precise outlines employed by previous painters),
which was described by Giorgio
Vasari as one of the distinguishing marks of modern painting. Almost
single-handedly responsible for transforming craftsmen-painters and sculptors
into artists and intellectual experts in disegno.

Perhaps best-known for the paintings of
his Blue and Rose Periods, his shorter African period, and his co-invention
of Analytical and Synthetic Cubism with Georges Braque, Picasso was also
a master sculptor, ceramicist, designer and printmaker, whose prolific
output drew inspiration from prehistoric, tribal, classical, Renaissance
and avant-garde themes. Picasso's revolutionary treatment of the picture
plane (in his Cubist work) effectively started a new era of fine art,
while his innovative sculptures were among the first to utilize "found"
materials. These innovations had a profound effect on the development
of modern and contemporary art movements including Constructivism, Futurism,
Orphism, Purism and Vorticism, as well as Dada and Surrealism, and on
contemporary painters (eg. Marcel Duchamp, Juan Gris, Fernand Leger, Francis
Picabia, Robert Delaunay) and sculptors (eg. Archipenko, Jacques Lipchitz,
and Ossip Zadkine). Probably the most influential artist of the 20th century:
not least because he was the most important semi-abstract artist and
one of the great expressionist
painters.

Arguably the greatest painter since the
Renaissance, the elusive Dutch Realist genius Rembrandt created a large
number of stunning masterpieces, including some of the finest examples
of history-painting, group and individual portraiture, genre-paintings,
still-life and self-portraits ever produced in the history of art. One
of the greatest exponents of chiaroscuro
(use of light and shadow), he is also famous for the character and emotional
content of his canvases, which introduced a revolutionery realism into
painting. Rembrandt was also one of the greatest draughtsmen and printmakers
(etching and dry-point). Taught numerous Old Masters (eg. Gerrit Dou,
Carel Fabritius, Nicolaes Maes), and still exerts a huge influence on
painters throughout the world.

The greatest painter, draughtsman and sculptor
of all time, Michelangelo was (along with Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael)
a key figure of the Italian High Renaissance in both Florence and Rome.
If the majesty and power of his Italian
Renaissance sculpture exceeded even that of Donatello, his Old Testament
Sistine Chapel frescoes
justifiably rank as the finest body of figurative art in the history of
painting. The art historian Anthony Blunt described them as having a "superhuman
quality" but also "a feeling of brooding, of sombre disquiet...
they are no longer merely symbols of eternal beauty; they also reflect
the tragedy of human destiny." Although schooled in the classical
principles of the Renaissance, which accorded the highest value to ideal
representations of the human body, particularly the nude form, Michelangelo
infused his Christian art with colossal
gravitas and human feeling. Some of his marble carvings have a flawless
beauty and polish, proving his absolute technical mastery. In the field
of the heroic male figure he remained for centuries (and arguably still
is) the supreme exponent. He also produced some of the best
drawings of the Renaissance. Regarded with awe by most of his contemporaries,
who applied the Italian word "terribilita" (frightening
power) to his works, Michelangelo devoted most of his last 20 years to
architecture (notably the design of St
Peter's Basilica in Rome), in which his reputation is as formidable
as in painting and sculpture. This extraordinary domination of the three
major visual arts - a feat unlikely to be repeated - is what makes him
the world's greatest ever artist.

Considered the most significant painter
of the High Renaissance, known for his sublime religious
paintings - altarpieces, sensitive Madonnas and Papal portraits -
as well as his wall-size frescos: see the Raphael
Rooms (Vatican).

Greatest early 17th century Italian painter
whose bold naturalistic style broke away from the prevailing school of
Mannerism. Founder of Tenebrism,
his exceptional influence led to a school of followers called the "caravaggisti".

Flemish-born Italian sculptor, considered
to be the greatest ever exponent of the Mannerism school. Renowned for
his mastery of sculptural technique as well as the emotional power of
his figurative statues.

Massively influential figure in Venetian
painting, capable of producing some of the greatest religious paintings
and portraits in the history of art. In addition to his supreme mastery
of colour, he specialized in allegorical works and portraiture.

Greatest French painter of the 17th century,
worked nearly all his life in Rome. Considered to be the greatest "academic
style" artist, in contradistinction to Rubens, whose drama and colour
schemes were ill-appreciated by the classical school.

Paintings by Poussin

- Rape of the Sabines (1638) oil on canvas,
Louvre, Paris
- The Holy Family on the Steps (1648) oil, National Gallery, Washington
DC

Paris-based Italian bohemian painter, an
impecunious and wild member of the Paris School during the first two decades
of the 20th century. Renowned for his unique, revolutionary Expressionist
style of figurative art, particularly his nudes, inspired by Cubism, African
figuration and narciotics.